Sarah - Before and After

Decided to clip Sarah after my ride today.  She's prettier with her fur coat, but it's hard to keep swept up in the house.  She has the thickest undercoat I've ever seen....looked like I had sheared a sheep.

I'm a Fanilow Now!

My sister won free tickets to the Barry Manilow concert on Wednesday night and invited me.  I know, I know.....older singer singing his old hits.....but you know what?  It was a great concert and you can't help but sing along with "Mandy", "I Write the Songs", "Nights in New England", etc....  We had excellent tickets - 4th row on the floor.

Some members of our church choir at Mandarin United Medthodist were invited to sing backup on his final song "One Voice".  Pretty cool !

He put on a great show and the crowd (mostly older women) absolutely adore him!  His voice is still very strong and he sings about as well as he did 30 years ago. I had a fun time - thanks Sis !

Check out these shoes and stuff that we saw in the stairwell of the parking garage...... weird.....

Good Times With Good Friends

 I got to ride with my daughter and friends this Saturday at San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park in Alachua.  It's one of my favorite places to ride and it's been about a year since I've been.  It's an hour and 1/2 drive from my house, but it's well worth it.   

The weather stayed stayed cool and breezy but was warm enough in the sun.  We rode for 5 hours and hit most of the loops available.  We had a nice lunch break at the picnic spot by the creek. 

My daughter Jenny

After we got back to the trailers, Jenny was giving whip cracking lessons to Mustang.  I had a dinner date, so I had to get my little caravan headed back home at 4:30.

Karen and Doug

I got home after dropping Cathy and Busta off at 6:00, got the horses settled, wet my hair, washed my face and hands, changed my shirt and Bobby and I hurried to meet another couple for sushi at our favorite place at 7:00.  Whew !  Good thing it wasn't too fancy of a place - they didn't mind my horsey pants. 

Bobby and me getting our sushi on!

Here's the rest of the photos I took and added some that Mustang and Jenny took as well....   PHOTOS

Whip Crackin' Momma !

That's what my daughter calls this short video of me on my mare Stylin.  Jenny taught me how to crack a whip and then had me desensitize Stylin on the ground for the last several weeks.  Yesterday, she decided it was time for me to put on my big girl panties and do it while on Stylin.  I made her do it first, then I climbed on using the round bale holder and voila !



Then I climbed on my trusty Appaloosa, Dixie and rode for a little while.  She's such a good ole mare.....she's 24 years old this spring and still going pretty strong.  Isn't she a cutie?

Making Progress and Product Testing

I had a great week and weekend. To start off with, I exercised 4 days in a row at work - haven't done that in a long while.  Worked half a day on Friday, then Bobby and I went to a dinner party at a friend's house.  I actually made an appetizer to take instead of cheating and swinging by the store. 

On Saturday I rode in Jennings State Forest for almost 6 hours with another group of friends.  It was a breezy, slightly cool day and I got to check out the back side of a loop that I've never completed  before. I was excited to try out my new Go-Girl device that I had purchased on line.  Go-Girl is a funnel that allows a woman to pee standing up and I was really looking forward to not having to drop and squat in the woods this time.  I had practiced at  home and thought I had it down pat.  NOT...  :-)  I waited until I had to go too badly then tried to use the thing without pulling my pants down enough.  It was so funny and I giggled while I was almost wetting my drawers.  Poo -  I wanted it to be as easy as unzipping and going.  It's still a good product if you don't want to sit on a port a pottie seat and even for going in the woods.  I should have practiced in jeans instead of jammy pants.

 Then Saturday night, Bobby and I attended a small wedding in Jacksonville Beach then went to dinner with the wedding party at the Sawgrass Marriott.  Sunday was church, lunch with Mom, hit a couple of stores then headed back home to do some serious poop scooping in the horse pen.  Ended my evening with a long hot soak in the tub with a cup of hot tea and a good book.  (If you like easy, entertaining mysteries, you might like the Hamish McBeth series by M.C. Beaton.  I love them ! ) All and all a busy and productive weekend.

A New Year ~ New Opportunities

I spent New Year's Day doing what I love most......riding my mare Stylin with my friends.  A lot of us were still fighting colds and my poor hubby was too sick to come camping with us, but we all still had a great time.

I'm taking a leave from being a Stephen Minister for a while and figure out where my volunteer time should be spent. 

Although I'm not making any resolutions, I want to become more healthy this year and rid myself of some excess poundage.  I'm looking forward to the cross Florida Cracker Trail Ride that I've signed up for at the end of February and would like to be a little lighter by then to make things easier on my horse and on my knees.

Here's to a healthy and happy new year!